Complaint: company memo violates election laws

A group of faith and community members are filing a formal complaint against a Milwaukee business -- saying its founder is persuading his employees to vote a certain way.

The CEO of Rite-Hite sent out an e-mail to his employees, advising them against voting for President Barack Obama. In the e-mail, Mike White explains how re-electing the president would be detrimental to the company and its employees.

That e-mail is now the focus of a complaint filed with the Government Accountability Board. "If we let this go on, if we just let this happen without raising eyebrows, at least, something being done, it is just going to continue," said Rev. Gregory Lewis who filed the complaint.

"These laws epitomize the sharp tension between an employers interest in expressing their political views and the right of every citizen in this country to vote their conscience," said employment law attorney Jeffery Hynes.

The five people who have filed the complaint against White say his message violates the state's election law, which states that no employer may distribute to employees printed material containing a threat that if a political party or candidate is elected, work will cease.